Heard the one about the finger at the health care rally MoveON held?
The wing nuts (one in particular) were spoiling for a fight and they got one.
But to hear them tell it they are the 'victim(s)' here.
However as usual they aren't telling the truth - not even half truth.
From an eyewitness who was there ...
The wing nuts (one in particular) were spoiling for a fight and they got one.
But to hear them tell it they are the 'victim(s)' here.
However as usual they aren't telling the truth - not even half truth.
From an eyewitness who was there ...
Eyewitness account from karoli @ drumsnwhistles:To be clear here: there were no threats, no dark moods, and there was no mob. I repeat, there was no mob. We were peaceful people holding candles and signs.
One petite woman was also handing out single payer flyers. She was passionate about it, but not rude, not mean, always smiled, and simply offered the flyer. At some point, she crossed back over (she may have run out of her flyer supply. I don’t know for sure. But she was not in any way confrontational.)
All of a sudden, I saw a very tall man in an orange shirt (yes, he is in the photo I linked you to) confront her, verbally at first. her back was to the thruway, and he was shooing her, approaching her, speaking to her in a very aggressive fashion (observation from body language only) and waving his arms in a shooing motion. With each step she took back, he took one forward, shooing her more. From where I was, it appeared as though he were telling her to get on her own side of the street, and backing it up with a very clear physical threat. Even from where I stood, it chilled me. I pointed it out to others and called out for anyone with a video camera to aim it over there. (I had a small Nikon cam with me that does video, but it would have been useless in that light.)
Ultimately, she did cross the street and come back over to our side.
Several minutes later, there was another altercation. My best recollection is that this man saw what happened to the woman and reacted to it. I cannot say with certainty where he was when he saw it — he may have arrived and was navigating his way through that group, or he may have crossed the street to defend her. He was confronted by the same man. I could tell from where I was that the man was belligerent, angry, and confrontational.
The man in the orange shirt hit the pro-reform guy (I’m going to call him pr guy just to keep the players straight), hard. ( tweeted in real time) He punched him in the face, knocked him to the ground and into that thruway. As you can see from the photo, cars drive straight through that without stopping. The pro-reform guy could have been run over. He got up, tried to get back up on the curb, but orange shirt guy was in his face. Finger in his face, pr guy standing, steps up to the curb, and there’s a scuffle. Orange shirt seemed to have pr guy in a hold, but again, I was across the street, so won’t state that as absolute fact. Next thing I see is pr guy’s hat being tossed into the street, both yelling at one another, then orange shirt walks away, pr guy picks up hat and crosses to our side.
When he gets to our side, he tells a story in one sentence: “He punched me hard, straight in the face, so I bit his finger off.”
Honestly, I thought he was exaggerating. I guess he wasn’t.
I’ve given this report to the police along with my photos. I am not heralding anyone as a hero here. I certainly do not celebrate the idea of anyone biting anyone else, no matter what the reason. However, there is no question that orange shirt guy was aching to fight, was willing to pick a fight, and certainly didn’t care who he fought with. He chose people who were shorter than he, and he used his voice, his body, his body language and his height to intimidate them.
Don’t be fooled by reports ginning up sympathy for that 65-year old guy or worse yet, reports characterizing him as a senior citizen. He was aggressive and ready to mix it up.
*****
The wing nuts are already spinning this to make it sound like MoveOn was looking for trouble and ready for blood.
As said before they are all lies.
The anti-reform guy (who, ironically, is on medicare and is having his finger-re-attachment surgery paid for by we the taxpayers) is the guy that started trouble.
The anti-reform guy is the guy who threw the first punch.
The anti-reform guy is the guy that kept getting in people's faces.
The anti-reform guy is the guy who continued the screaming when the other guy was down on the ground.
The anti-reform guy is the guy who picked a fight.
The anti-reform guy lost the fight.
As said before they are all lies.
The anti-reform guy (who, ironically, is on medicare and is having his finger-re-attachment surgery paid for by we the taxpayers) is the guy that started trouble.
The anti-reform guy is the guy who threw the first punch.
The anti-reform guy is the guy that kept getting in people's faces.
The anti-reform guy is the guy who continued the screaming when the other guy was down on the ground.
The anti-reform guy is the guy who picked a fight.
The anti-reform guy lost the fight.
